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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>86424</law_id><section_number>63.2-1215</section_number><catch_line>Legal effects of adoption</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="63.2">Welfare (Social Services)</unit><unit label="subtitle" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="III">Social Services Programs</unit><unit label="chapter" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="12">Adoption</unit><unit label="article" level="4" order_by="1" identifier="1">General Provisions</unit></structure><text>
						<section id="A"><p><span class="prefix-number">A.</span> The <span class="dictionary">birth parents</span>, and the parents by previous adoption, if any, other than any such parent who is the husband or wife of one of the petitioners, shall, by <span class="dictionary">final order</span> of adoption, be divested of all legal rights and obligations in respect to the <span class="dictionary">child</span> including the right to <span class="dictionary">petition</span> any <span class="dictionary">court</span> for visitation with the <span class="dictionary">child</span>. Except where a <span class="dictionary">final order</span> of adoption is entered pursuant to &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Adoption of child by spouse of birth or adoptive parent or other person with legitimate interest" href="/63.2-1241/">63.2-1241</a>, any person whose interest in the <span class="dictionary">child</span> derives from or through the <span class="dictionary">birth parent</span> or previous adoptive parent, including but not limited to grandparents, stepparents, former stepparents, blood relatives, and family members, shall, by <span class="dictionary">final order</span> of adoption, be divested of all legal rights and obligations in respect to the <span class="dictionary">child</span> including the right to <span class="dictionary">petition</span> any <span class="dictionary">court</span> for visitation with the <span class="dictionary">child</span>. In all cases the <span class="dictionary">child</span> shall be free from all legal obligations of obedience and maintenance in respect to such persons divested of legal rights. Any <span class="dictionary">child</span> adopted under the provisions of this chapter shall, from and after the entry of the <span class="dictionary">interlocutory order</span> or from and after the entry of the <span class="dictionary">final order</span> where no such <span class="dictionary">interlocutory order</span> is entered, be, to all <span class="dictionary">intents</span> and purposes, the <span class="dictionary">child</span> of the person or persons so adopting him and, unless and until such <span class="dictionary">interlocutory order</span> or <span class="dictionary">final order</span> is subsequently revoked, shall be entitled to all the rights and <span class="dictionary">privileges</span>, and subject to all the obligations, of a <span class="dictionary">child</span> of such person or persons born in lawful wedlock. An adopted person is the <span class="dictionary">child</span> of an adopting parent, and as such, the adopting parent shall be entitled to testify in all cases civil and criminal, as if the adopted <span class="dictionary">child</span> was born of the adopting parent in lawful wedlock. <a id="paragraph-309551" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/63.2-1215/#A"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B"><p><span class="prefix-number">B.</span> Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit any <span class="dictionary">child</span> of a deceased person from receiving an award of <span class="dictionary">damages</span> in an action for death by wrongful act in accordance with the provisions of Article 5 (&#xA7; <a class="law" title="Action for death by wrongful act; how and when to be brought" href="/8.01-50/">8.01-50</a> et seq.) of Chapter 3 of Title 8.01 if such <span class="dictionary">child</span> is adopted after the death of the deceased person, provided that the parental rights of such deceased person were not terminated by a <span class="dictionary">court</span> of competent <span class="dictionary">jurisdiction</span> prior to his death. The provisions of this subsection shall apply to any adoption finalized on or after July 1, 2024. <a id="paragraph-309552" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/63.2-1215/#B"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section></text><history>Code 1950, &#xA7; 63-357; 1968, c. 578, &#xA7; 63.1-233; 1995, cc. 772, 826; 1997, c. 690; 2000, c. 830, &#xA7; 63.1-219.22; 2002, c. 747; 2003, c. 229; 2024, cc. 69, 70.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
